Alberta reports 531 new cases ofCOVID-19 and 12 new deaths

Alberta reported 531 new cases ofCOVID-19 on Thursday and 12 new deaths.

In the last 24 hours, 10,200 tests were completed with a positivity rate of 5.4 per cent,Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province's chief medical officer of health, told a news conference.

There are currently 779 people in hospital, including 185 patients in ICU.The numbers show 31 fewer people in hospital overall from Wednesday, but two more patients in intensive care.

"We continue to see a slow and steady decline in hospitalizations," Hinshaw said.

She said the spread of COVID-19 in Alberta is influenced by vaccineuptake andpotential spreader events.

Public health measures introduced last month have reduced the number of in-person interactions, she said.

"The combination of reducing the number of in-person interactions that happened, as well as increasing vaccination rates, have provided a combination that has reduced our cases, reduced transmission, and is slowly reducing acute-care impact," Hinshaw said.

"I do want to emphasize that we do continue to have a high acute-care burden, so we do need to continue all of those things continue increasing vaccination coverage, and continue reducing our in-person interactions so that we can get our acute-care system out of this difficult spot."

She said the province's restriction exemption program Alberta's version of the vaccine passport has helped boost vaccination rates while creating safe spaces that allow people who are likely protected against COVID-19, or who have recently tested negative for the illness, to mingle.

The 12 new deaths reported Thursday bring the total deaths from COVID-19 in Alberta to 3,085.

Here is how active cases break down across the province:

• Calgary zone: 2,162
• Edmonton zone: 1,945
• North zone: 1,747
• Central zone: 1,645
• South zone: 882
• Unknown: 6

Alberta continues to lead the country in active cases.As of Thursday, there were 8,387 active cases in the province.

More than 6.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Alberta to date.

Nearly 87 per cent of eligible Albertans havereceived at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while more than79per cent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated.